Oklahoma Update - Part 1

So, I thought I would take just a few minutes to give everyone an update of our trip to Oklahoma. It was in a word - WONDERFUL!! My dear hubby and myself said good-bye to our two beautiful children, and climbed aboard the airplane headed out of Phoenix and into the great mid-west. Our flight to Oklahoma was perfect - smooth, short, and on time. We sat beside a very nice older lady headed back to Oklahoma after a visit with family. We touched down in Oklahoma Cit shortly after 10:30 p.m. to find a small, quiet airport. My sister and her husband picked us up for the short drive from Oklahoma City to Norman, and quick hellos were exchanged with good-nights as we all went immediately to bed. The next morning, my dear hubby and I awoke to the smell of coffee and the sound of birds outside our window. The biggest shocker to our Phoenix senses were the waves of green - green, mature trees and miles of grass and flowers. The clouds were overcast, gray, and the air was thick with the smell of rain. Without small kiddos to care for, we were able to eat breakfast, shower, dress and leave for the realtor's office all in an hour's time. Driving my sister's car, we made our way easily from my sister's house to the realtor's office for our 9:30 a.m . appointment (OK, so we stopped for Starbucks along the way and were a teeny bit late :) A few quick handshakes later, we were riding in a large, white SUV with our very confindent realtor at the wheel. What followed were multitudes of neighborhoods and houses, all in one long parade. It was SO much fun! The realtor was very friendly and knowledgeable, and we found some great houses that we liked very much. The realtor taught us the trick of giving each house a nick-name so that we could remember one house from the next. - the houses we liked best were nickenamed "Lil' Buffy", "The Cat House", and "The Party House". If you want to hear the stories behind WHY we nick-named them that...well, that's another post. My sister got off work at noon, and was able to see several houses with us as well. We ate a late lunch and picked up my brother-in-law from work just in time to head back to the house for dinner (homemade lasagna made by my sis - it was the best I've ever had, and I am telling the truth!!) The weather had really picked-up in the early afternoon, but we had slogged through the rain to see the rest of the houses, no problem.
Now, as dusk fell, the rain was turning into more of a thunderstorm, with flashes of lightning and crashes of thunder. We were just finishing up our lasagna when there came the sound of a very loud and shrill siren. My dear hubby looked around the table and asked, "What's that? Is that for tornadoes or something?" My brother-in-law looked up from his plate and said, "Yup, it's a tornado warning. Guess we better go turn on the TV." So, we all gathered around the TV in the living room to find out where the tornado action had been spotted..turns out it was only a few miles down the road. I grew up in west Texas, where all of this tornado-stuff became rather second nature for me, but I had been concerned about how my dear hubby might react to a real tornado warning. He handled it great...like a seasoned pro even. We stayed up chatting with my sis and her hubby, and all decided that our plans to leave that night for a dessert-out would best be changed to a night in. We munched on warm apple crisp (again homemade by my sis - it was SOOO awesome.. where did she learn to cook like this? ) and went to bed.
I'm sure your rubbing your eyes by now...so ends this chapter...more about the rest of our trip and the discovery of our "Dream Home" to come...